By Umi Keezing

as papers fall around me enveloping me

in calculus problems and physics tests and grades

I bat them away with a pencil but they only withdraw

when the graphite forms the words or numbers that solve the puzzles

which I attempt to address in the vain hope

of completing my homework in time for a brief reprieve

before the next onslaught of assignments threatens to engulf me

because I immerse myself in academics the view through my window becomes

abstract art the tree house in my backyard a fairytale

from my childhood while the story in my English binder

becomes increasingly real the letters sharpening as the autumn leaves outside

blur with my deteriorating vision whether or not

I study obscure concepts to gain insight into reality I end up

distancing myself from the scent of my backyard the hubbub of Northampton

and the embraces of my long-lost friends who also

abandon the world to better analyze its mechanisms

to be accepted to college where the workload piles higher

and higher as offices replace dormitories the ceaseless cycle of studying

synchronizes with the sleep cycle more than the revolutions of Earth

dizzying me though I barely feel the lightheadedness due to

my perpetual headache that only abates when I have time

to pause on the sidewalk a breeze caressing my face and remember

that tangibility exists outside of hands-on chemistry experiments

and poignant poetry for an instant I recall the existence of a third dimension

and search for escape routes from the two that imprison me

before realizing that no such route exists without exertion

that is not merely mental and is therefore beyond my brain-dominated

self so I avert my nearsighted eyes from the treetops and fix them

on my desktop of artificial wood and sharpen my pencil